Reversible driving mechanism.



"0., 65!,252. Patented June 5, I900.

G. D..,KILB-ERRY.

REVERSIBLE DRIVING MEDHANISM.

(Application filed Oct. 23, 1899.).

(N0 Model.) 7 Sheets-Sheet l.

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WHEE'EEEE I (3% No. 65!,252. Patented lune 5, I900.

G. D. KIL BERRY.

REVERSIBLE DRIVING MECHANISM. (Application filed Oct 23,1899.) (N0 Mod el.)

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G. D. KILB.ERBY. REVERSIBLE DRIVING MECHANISM.

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REVERSIBLE DBIVINGHMEQHANISM.

* Patented June 5, I900.

(Application meq Oct. 23, 1599.)

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(No Model.)

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N0. 65|,25 2. G. D. KILBERRY.

REVERSIBLE DRIVING MECHANISM.

(Application filed 00. 23, 1899.)

(No Model.) 7 Sheets8heet 5.

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Patented June 5,

-G. D'. KILBERRY. REVERSIBLE DRIVING MECHANISM.

(Application filed Oct. 28, 1899.)

7 Sheets-Sheet 6.

(No Model.)

No. 65!,252. Patented June 5, I900: G. D. KILBERRY.

REVERSIBLE DRIVING MECHANISM.

(Application filed Oct. 28, 1899.) v (No Model.) 7 Sheets-Sheet 7.

J J j 2 V 15 ES tial, and the accomplishment of these objects UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE DANIEL KILBERRY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- HALF TO WILLIAM H. COEN, OF SAME PLACE.

- REVERSIBLE DRIVING MECHANISM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 651,252, dated June 5, 1900.

Application filed October 23,1899.

T0 ctZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE DANIEL KIL- BERRY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Reversible Driving Mechanism, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in reversible driving mechanism of that class in which the direction of rotation or travel of the driven shaft or of the part being operated may be reversed or varied at will without the necessity for stopping, reversing, or changing the speed of the driving or power shaft or shafts.

My invention is especially adapted for the operation of passenger or freight elevators wherein the capability for promptly starting, stopping, and reversing is absolutely essem without jerk or jar either to the elevator-car or the operating mechanism is particularly desirable; but my invention is equally applicable to the operation of motor-vehicles, lifts of all kinds, as well as any kind of machinery having a reciprocating part, such as planingmills, rolling-mills, and the like.

My invention has for its object the provi sion of a reversible variable-speed driving mechanism that shall be cheap, simple, and durable, that shall involve the minimum of expense both in operation and maintenance, that shall be absolutely free from all jars or jerks to any of its operating parts, as well as to the parts operated thereby, and yet which shall be prompt in starting, stopping, and reversing, and that shall be capable of the highspeed operation necessary in passenger-elevator service. V

In the drawings have shown my invention as embodied in various forms, but all especially applied to the operation of elevators simply for the purpose of illustration and ready understanding of the invention in its most universal and well-understood application and without intending thereby to exclude the application of my invention from any other uses to which it may be put, as

will be readily understood to any one familiar Serial No- 734,578. (No model.)

with the arts havinga thorough understanding of my invention.

These and such other objects as may hereinafter appear are attained by the devices illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 represents a sectional elevation of a typical elevator-shaft, showing my invention applied thereto. Fig. 2 represents a plan view of the driving mechanism per se illustrated in Fig. 1 as applied to the operation of an elevator. Fig. 3 represents a side elevation thereof. Fig. at represents a vertical section on the line 4 t of Fig. 3 looking in the direction indicated by the arrows. Fig. 5 represents a detail vertical longitudinal section through the friction driving-wheels and their operating mechanism. Figs. (Mo

9, inclusive, illustrate a modification of my,

invention, which I call a sheave-machine, in which both the driving and transmitting mechanism are frictional throughout. Figs. 10 and 11 are diagrammatic views of a form of elevator apparatus adapted for operation by my driving mechanism.

Similar letters of reference indicate the same parts 'in the several figures of the drawings, except wherein some parts are otherwise specifically designated for greater clearness.

Referring now to the drawings and taking up first Figs. 1 to 5, inclusive, the mechanism therein illustrated is the preferred form of my invention for certain uses, being particularly adapted for high-speed passenger-elevators in tall buildings, where the element of cost is not as important'as the elements of safety, certainty of operation, speed, and general efficiency. In this form of mechanism, A indicates what I will call the power-shaft of the machine, to which power may be applied in any suitable way either directly or indirectly, the application of power in the drawings being direct and in the form of an electric motor B, the armature of which is mounted directly upon the power-shaft, so that the armature'shaft and the power-shaft in this construction are one and the same thing. I desire to state, however, that power from any kind of motor, whether electric, air, gas, or steam, may be applied to the shaft A in any suitable manner without departing from the spirit of my invention.

The driving-shaft is supported in any way in suitable bearings, such as those afforded by the pillow-blocks O, rising from the bed D, which in the form shown are three in number, the electric motor being mounted upon the shaft between two of these blocks, the outer one of which rests upon a lateral extension of the bed-plate, as will be apparent from an inspection of Figs. 2 and 3. Upon the shaft A, between the other two pillowblocks, is mounted a sleeve E, splined upon the shaft, so as to have an endwise movement .thereon, as well as rotary movement there- -ings.

The friction-wheels F and G are intended to be permanently in contact with the friction-disks and in the preferable construction shown engage said disks on opposite sides of their centers. Said disks, and consequently the shafts J and K, will thus be driven in opposite directions. It is therefore plain that the direction in which the power-shaft is rotated is immaterial, as the result will be the same, excepting that the shafts J and K will be caused to turn in one or the other direction. Assuming now that the shaft is tnrning in the direction indicated by the arrows in Figs. 2 and 3, it is manifest that the friction-disks H and I will be rotated in opposite directions, as indicated by the arrows applied to them in said figures, and that if the friction-wheels F and G engage the friction-disks at exactly the same distance from the centers of said disks said disks will rotate at exactly the same speed, but that if .the friction-wheels are moved either to the right or to the left, so that one will be nearer the center of the disk than the other, then one of the disks will be rotated at a higher rate of speed than the other. My improved driving mechanism also comprises means for adjusting the friction-wheels F and G transversely of the faces of the disks H and I,

thereby providing for varying the speed of rotation of the shafts J and K in the manner above described. As shown, this is effected by moving the sleeve E, which carries said friction-wheelsF and G, longitudinally upon the driving-shaft A, means forthis purpose being hereinafter fully described.

With the described construction it is obvious that the friction-wheels F and G will be simultaneously adjusted in opposite directions relatively to the centers of the disks which they respectively engagethat is, one toward and one away from the center of the disk which it engages. I do not desire, however, to limit myself to the specific means shown for adjusting said friction-wheels, as other means may be used, as by securing said friction-wheels directly to the driving-shaft A and providing for desired longitudinal movement of said shaft or by making said friction-wheels separately and independently adj ustable.

Interposed between the shafts J and K, which are, in effect, driven shafts, and the elevator-car, if the invention be applied to an elevator, the driven axle, if the invention be applied to a motor-vehicle, or to any desired part of any mechanism which it is intended to operate is a differential transmitting mechanism, whereby the car, motor-vehicle,or other machine may be caused to move in either direction and at any speed from a stationary position to maximum speed.

Many and various kinds of differential mechanisms have been heretofore proposed that are well adapted. for use in connection with my invention, and in the drawings 1' have shown two of the most widely different types of differential gear known to me simply for the purpose of illustration.

I11 the form under consideration the differential gear consists of a drum M, keyed or otherwise rigidly mounted upon a shaft N, journaled, preferably, in the side frames or standards L centrally above and between the shafts J and K. On the shaft N, at each side of the drum, is loosely mounted a rim gearwheel 0, one of which gear-wheels meshes with a pinion P on one of the driven shafts and the other of which gear-wheels meshes with a corresponding pinion Q upon the other driven shaft, so that one of the gear-wheels 0 will be driven in one direction by the pinion on the shaft J and the other will be driven in the opposite direction by the pinion on the web of the drum M, as clearly illustrated'in Fig. 4. It will now be plain that when the gear-wheels O are rotated in opposite directions at the same speed, turning freely upon the shaft N, they will produce no effect upon said shaft, as the drun'l-gears S simply spin around in their respective bearings without esnasa v e tendency to move the drum in either direction. When, however, the gears O are re volved in different directions, but at different speeds, while the drum-gears S will still continue to revolve, they will also impart to the drum a rotation due to the difference in speed between the gears O, and thedirection in which the drum will be rotated will depend upon which of the gears O outtravels the other. I do not claim anything broadly novel in this particular differential gearing, because in its general features it is common in the arts; but its adaptation for use in connection with my invention is especially valuable, its construction and arrangement is compact and novel, as well as durable, and it perhaps is the best type of such gearing for use upon high class work requiring high speed, safety, and certainty of operation without reliance upon friction, as by having the moving parts geared together throughout, excepting the driving friction wheels and disks,

Now in this particular embodiment of my invention the shaft N is really the driven shaft, and it may be driven in either direction and at any desired speed from a stationary position to maximum speed,and through it the power may be applied in any desired manner to the part to be opercommon practice would be to have the cables for the elevator-car oppositely wound from those of the counterweight and preferably each properly anchored to the drum, so that as the car-cables are wound upon the drum the counterweight-cables would be wound off the drum to make room for the car-cables, and vice versa, according to the direction in which the drum is rotating and whether the car is going up or down in the shaft. The counter- -weight should be appropriately of sufficient gravity to counterbalance the car and its connections and aboutone-half of the maximum load to be carried by the car, this being the usual and most economical arrangement, and in this particular form of apparatus either the car or counterweight cables may be trained around the loose guide-pulley X in running onto and off of the drum, while the other cables runon. and off direct, or both may run on and off direct or both around a suitable guide-pulley, like X, which is loosely mounted upon its shaft, so as to move endwise thereon as the cables are run on and off of the drum, all of such features being common and well understood in the elevator art.

Of course in this application of my invention it is necessary that'the driving mechanism should be controlled directly from the car, as usual in elevator practice, and this I prefer to accomplish mechanically through the ordinary standing cable a, trained around suitable sheaves at the top and bottom of the shafts and ultimately led around a sheave b, to which it may be anchored, if desired,whicl1 sheave is rigidly mounted upon a shaft a, suitably journaled adjacent to the driving-shaft A and preferably in the two of the pillowblocks in which said driving-shaft is journaled, the shaft 0 being threaded at a suitable point along itslength to receive a threaded sleeve d, which latter is rigidly secured in any suitable manner to the sleeve E upon the driving-shaft A, by which the friction-wheels F and G are carried. Mauifestly when the shaft 0 is turned in one direction or the other a corresponding movement in the proper direction is given to the sleeve E and the friction-wheels carried thereby, so that the operator upon the car by manipulating the standing cable in the usual way may move the friction-wheels to the neutral point upon the friction-disks, so as to stop the car at any landing, where it will remain as long as the Wheels are left on the neutral point, or by appropriately moving the standing cable up or down he may shift the friction-wheels upon their respective disks, so as to cause the car to move either up or down in the shaft and at any desired or variable speed between a stationary position and maximum speed, and all of this will take place during the continuous operation of the motor.

It is manifest that instead of having the lifting-cables operated by the winding-drum Min the usual manner, as above described, this drum as such maybe dispensed .withthat is, it may be converted into a plain wheel or disk having only the function of carrying the drum-gears Sand transmitting power. to the shaft N-while there may be mounted upon the shaft N a sheave of usual construction, as shown by the dotted lines atthe right in Fig. 4, around which will be trained the lifting-cables connecting the counterweight directly with the car, so that when the sheave is turned the lifting-cables willbe correspondingly moved so as to raise or lower the car in the shaft. Indeed, so far as relates to the broad idea of my invention, as before stated, the power may be applied to the part to be operated, whatever it may be, directly from the shaft N, or the differential mechan- .a different embodiment of my invention principally as to details, for the general form and construction is the same as that previously described, and practically all of the parts are present except in a modified form. This machine I designate my sheave-machine, and instead of having the various parts geared together the entire transmission of power is by friction. For instance, instead of having the motor mounted upon or geared with the power-shaft A, I mount upon said shaft abeltpulley s, around which is trained an ordinary driving-belt f, to which power is communicated from any kind of motor, either a dynamo, a steam-engine, or any other kind of engine which is operated to drive the powershaft in one direction. In this instance the friction-wheels F and G are independently mounted upon sleeves gand h, respectively, each of which sleeves has an arm rigidly connecting it with a threaded sleeve 1', working upon the the threaded shaft 0 and simultaneously operating the sleeves g and h to shift the friction-whcels F and G" in exactly the same manner described in the preferred construction. The shaft 0', as in the preferred construction, may be operated in any desired manner; but I prefer to operate it mechanically, and where the mechanism is intended to operate an elevator the said shaft may be provided with a sheave b, with which the ordinary standing cable is suitably engaged to operate the same. Instead of having the wheels 0 gear-wheels, as in the preferred construction, I make them in this instance belt-wheels and also substitute belt-pulleys P Q for the pinions P and Qupon the driven shafts J and K and train around said wheels and pulleys, respectively, the belts j for the purpose of transmitting power. Again, I substitute for the annular gears R of the preferred construction frictional surfaces R upon the wheels 0 and substitute frictional wheels S for the drum-gears S, so that here again the transmission of power will be by friction. I have also shown a simple disk wheel M substituted for the drum M and instead thereof mounted an ordinary sheave 7i; upon the end of the shaft N, around which are trained the lifting-cables, which run from the counterbalance-weight to the elevatorcar, a sufficient number of turns of such cables being taken around the sheave k to insure the proper transmission of power.

In Figs. 10 and 11 I have illustrated still another modification of my invention, which, however, in its essential features does not depart from that which has been previously described. The principal difference is that instead of interposing between the shafts J and K the differential mechanism hereinbefore described I interpose another form of differential mechanism to which power is communicated from the sheaves 0 and p, mounted, respectively, upon the shafts J and K and which are diagrammatically represented in said figures.

The difierential mechanism shownin Figs. 10 and 11 for giving direction to the movement of the part operated by these driven shafts when such part is an elevator-car, as shown in the drawings, consists of an endless rope or cable g, which is trained around the sheaves 0- and p and around a pair of movable sheaves r and 8, one of which is journaled freely in a suitable hanger, to which the lifting-cable t of the car V is attached, while the other sheave s is likewise connected by a cable it with the counterbalance-weight W, the weight of the car and the counterbalance serving to maintain the endless cable q sufficiently taut to properly communicate power. This general form of differential mechanism is illustrated in the patent to E. M. Fraser, No. 616,096, granted December 20, 1898, in which the sheaves 0 and p are shown as operated continuously by two independent motors, the relative speeds of which motors are necessarily varied to vary the speed of rotation of the sheaves 0 and p, and therein such patented mechanism radically differs from mine, although in this particular embodiment of the invention the effect upon the operation of an elevator is the same. This operation, briefly stated, is brought about in the following manner: Assuming the sheaves 0 and p to be driven in the direction indicated by the arrows and the elevator at the bottom of the shaft, as shown in Fig. 10, at this time the friction-wheels F and G would be on the neutral points upon the friction-disks H and I, and the elevator-car should now be at rest. Assuming now that through the control mechanism the friction-wheels are shifted so as to cause the sheave 0 to run at a higher rate of speed than the sheave p, the effect will be to have the leg 1 of the endless rope drawn down from the sheave'r'faster than it is delivered to said sheave by the leg 2,which So I is paid off of the sheave p to the sheave r. f

eration if continued will bring the parts to the position shown in Fig. 11, with the elevator near the top of the shaft and the counterweight near the bottom thereof. In its rise in the shaft the elevator can be stopped at any floor by simply moving the frictionwheels to the neutral point upon the frictiondisks, and it is of course obvious that it may be stopped at any point in the shaft and reversed as well at any point if the frictionwheels are shifted to the opposite side of the neutral point, so as to cause the sheave p to outtravel the sheave 0, which would bring about the exact reversal of the conditions previously described, although, of course, the

IIO

endless cable would of necessity always travel in the same direction as indicated by the ar-' rows.

It is obvious that where my invention is applied to a bank of elevators containing any number of adjacent elevators each equipped with its own operating and controlling mechanism all of said sets of mechanisms may be operated from a single motor of any kind from which the power for operating each set of mechanisms for each elevator may be appropriately applied to the various mechanisms without interference, thus enabling the operation of a bank of even six adjacent elevators from a single motor, all of which greatly conduces to simplicity, compactness in the plant, cheapness in operation, and efficiency in service.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, andidesire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A reversible driving mechanism, comprising a driving-shaft, means for rotating the same, driven shafts, disks thereon, frictionwheels on the said driving-shaft,which rotate with said driving-shaft and which engage said disks,1neans for adjusting said friction-wheels transversely of the faces of said disks and a differential mechanism interposed between said driven shafts and the part to be moved, substantially as described.

2. A reversible driving mechanism, comprisinga driving-shaft, means for rotating the same, driven shafts, disks thereon, frictionwheels on the driving-shat" t, which rotate with said driving-shaft andwhich engage said disks on opposite sides of their centers, means for adjusting said friction-wheels transversely of the faces of said disks and a differential mechanism interposed between said driven shafts and the part to be moved, substantially as described.

A reversible driving mechanism, com.- prising a driving-shaft, means for rotating the same in one direction, driven shafts, disks thereon, friction-wheels on the driving-shaft, which rotate with said driving-shaft and which engage said disks on opposite sides of their centers, thereby rotating each in a direction opposite to the other, means for adjusting said friction-wheels transversely of the faces of said disks and a differential mechanism interposed between said driven shafts and the part to be moved, substantially as described.

4. A reversible driving mechanism, comprising a driving-shaft, means for rotating the same, driven shafts, disks thereon, a sleeve splined to said driving-shaft, friction-wheels secured to said sleeve, which engage the disks on said driven shafts on opposite sides of their centers, means to impart movement to said elevator-car for adjusting said friction-wheels transversely of the faces of said disks and a differential mechanism interposed between said driven shafts and the elevator-car, substantially as described.

6. A reversible driving mechanism for e1evators, comprising a driving-shaft, means for rotating the same, driven shafts, disks on said shafts, a sleeve splined to. said driving-shaft, friction-wheels on said sleeve, which engage the disks on said driven shafts on opposite sides of their centers, means to impart movement to said sleeve longitudinally of said driving-shaft, said means comprising a threaded shaft, a sleeve threaded to said shaft, connection between said threaded sleeve and the sleeve on the driving-shaft and a pulley and cable connection between said threaded shaft and the elevator-car for rotating said threaded shaft and a differential mechanism between said driven shafts and the elevator-car, substantially as described.

GEORGE DANIEL K ILBERRY.

Witnesses: M. E. SHIELDS, O. L. -WO0D. 

